My Journey into Podcasting

I’m an MA student studying online journalism at BCU. I’ve been on Medium for a few months, mostly lurking in the shadows (reading, liking, highlighting, etc). Part of my assignment this semester is to delve into the world of audio, video or data journalism.

I decided to pick audio, seeing as I know absolutely nothing about podcasting (audio).

My initial reaction:

I mean, I had some idea. I helped out with a friend’s podcast a few years ago, but nothing concrete.

Here are some of my initial questions about podcasting and the answers I found.

Who even listens to podcasts?

Pew Research Centre has some data on podcasts:

“The percentage of Americans who have listened to a podcast in the past month has almost doubled since 2008, from 9% to 17% by January of 2015. The percentage listening in 2015 was up two points over 2014 levels (15%).”

Not only that, the research shows there were about 2.6 billion podcast downloads in 2014. Almost half of Americans (ages 12 and up) listen to online radio, with one-third having listened to at least one podcast.

I know, I know, online radio it’s not the same as podcasting, but I included this because they listen online (with 73% listening via mobile). Read more here.

Is podcasting making a comeback?

@kevinroose wrote a great article on podcasting. Could podcasts be the next big thing?

“When you have Ira Glass going on The Tonight Show to talk about podcasting, something is a little different," — Roman Mars.

Since the initial boom in 2001, Roose argues that podcasts are becoming bigger and better. Especially given the economics.

He argues that it costs significantly less to make a podcast than it does to create a TV show or even a radio show.

Who’s listening? People.

Specifically? Commuters.

Roose spoke to some podcasters and one of the main reasons for this podcasting “renaissance” is…cars. Since wifi is now rolling out in cars, commuting is a great time to listen to podcasts.

How do podcasters make money?

Advertising really does make the world go round. At least for now.

Roose also mentions the cost of advertising with podcasts. The CPM (cost per thousand impressions) is much higher for podcasts ($20-$45) compared to radio ($1-$18) or even web ads ($1-$20).

Michael Wolf discusses different ways to making money with podcasting in this article here. Turns out, there’s other ways to make money besides advertising, including Kickstarter, Patreon, subscriptions and paid apps.

Cool, so where can I learn more?

I’ve joined a few podcasting communities for more insight and information on podcasting.

Here are a couple on Google+, one is called Podcasters and the second is Podcasting Technology Resources (HT Rebecca Jones). The second group also has a LinkedIn group.

Apart from the online. Meetup is also a great website to meet like minded individuals in your area. There seems to be a couple podcasting groups in my area that meet monthly.

So, if you’re another J-school student or just curious, stay tuned for more updates on my newbie journey into podcasting. If you have any anything to add to the above, let me know in the comments below.

Edit: The Yahoo group Podcasting Technology Resource Group is inactive.